


The Ice Queen's Woes

by silverobin



Category: RWBY
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-21
Updated: 2020-06-21
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:35:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,598
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24837796
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silverobin/pseuds/silverobin
Summary: Ruby didn't understand at all. She was trying to make things work out, but no matter how hard she tried, it would always backfire. Because of that, there was always a new problem she had to take care of. Of course, she knew she could handle it, but how was she going to make that happen if Weiss wouldn't let her? If Weiss wouldn't give either of them a chance to make things right?
Relationships: Ruby Rose/Weiss Schnee
Comments: 7
Kudos: 74





	The Ice Queen's Woes

"Weiss! What's wrong? Wait up!"

The sound of heavy footsteps echoed throughout Beacon Academy's halls as Weiss Schnee continued stomping her way back to their dorm. Following close behind her was her leader, Ruby Rose. Eyes focused forward, she ignored the passing glances the other students gave them before moving out of her way. They hardly mattered when her head became shrouded with frustration like this — when anger was bubbling inside of her, threatening to overflow the more she heard that irritating voice. 

"Hey, I said wait!"

Her eyebrows stitched together. 

"Will you _please_ stop walking and-"

"And what?" Weiss stopped in her tracks, making a quick turn to confront Ruby, a scowl on her face. "What do you want from me?"

Ruby found herself speechless and face-to-face with the furious heiress. She'd already found herself in this situation lots of times, even before becoming partners. And each time, she had tried her best to settle the issue. Each time, she’d reached out for this girl who'd done nothing but push her away. She had decided and promised it to Weiss back then that she was going to make it up to her eventually. Wasn’t that the right thing to do?

They butted heads ever since they’d bumped into each other, yes. Ruby herself had said some pretty awful things back at the forest, but she actually felt remorse for letting her emotions get the better of her. She hadn’t meant to snap at Weiss, really… And right now, all she wanted to do was make things right with her partner. 

Weiss was still staring down at her, impatiently tapping her foot, but determination swelled up in her chest. 

Yes, she could make this right. 

"Because I want to help. I'm your friend, Weiss. I can't help you if you don't help yourself first." She reached out a hand. "If you could just-"

A sharp, stinging sensation struck Ruby's hand as Weiss swatted it away.

"I'm fine."

Her words were as cold as ice. It felt like a warning, in a way that meant if Ruby were to persist, the situation would only escalate. It was her way of telling Ruby to simply _back off._ She was fine. They could all move on. 

And there she went, off to their dorm. 

Ruby could only watch her partner walk away as the sound of her clacking heels faded. Finally, the door slam shut, making her flinch in surprise. She hadn't moved an inch from where she stood after Weiss had hit her. Bringing a shaky hand up to her face, she realized the red lines she was left with.

She didn't understand at all. She was trying to make things work out, but no matter how hard she tried, anything she did would backfire. Anything she didn’t do still resulted in a very annoyed Weiss. Because of that, there was always a new problem she had to take care of. Of course, she knew she could handle it, but how was she going to make that happen _if Weiss wouldn't let her? If Weiss wouldn't give either of them a chance to make things right?_ Ruby, she...

She couldn't do it alone.

With a frustrated grunt, she kicked the wall.

"Some leader _I_ am..."

* * *

Ever since her little spat with her leader, Weiss spent her time studying for hours on end. It had always taken her mind off of anything that bothered her. Just like at home… It gave her something to focus on. In a way, it calmed her down and cleared her head. That was until she heard the doorknob turn and the door opened. 

"And I said, 'Bumblebee? More like-'" Yang bumped into Blake when the girl suddenly stopped to look at their roommate. "Oh hey, Weiss! Didn't expect to see you here. I thought you were with Ruby."

At the sound of their leader's name, Weiss momentarily paused from writing. Without looking up, she shook her head and continued.

"Have you at least seen where she might've went?” Blake attempted to catch her attention. “It's pretty late and we can't contact her scroll." 

Yang and Blake shot glances at each other as they waited for a reply, yet all they got was an annoyed, " How should _I_ know?"

That particular response hit a nerve with Yang. Here they were, asking nicely and Weiss couldn’t even look them in the eyes while she answered. Wasn’t she always the one who liked to talk about manners and all that? 

With the silence growing, Blake’s ears flattened. Clutching her arm, she gave Yang a worried glance. Between the two of them, she was the one who knew how to handle people, but with someone as hot headed as Yang and someone as stubborn as Weiss, they were more likely to slip up and say things they didn’t really mean. But Blake couldn’t really blame Yang for that. What with the way Weiss has been acting like towards her little sister, of course Yang would be upset. She just hoped the situation wouldn’t get too out of hand.

"Uh, because you're her partner?" Yang finally spoke up, crossing her arms. "Can't you show a little more concern?"

Weiss scoffed, answering matter-of-factly. "It's as you've said, Yang. I'm her partner, not her babysitter. I'm not responsible for _your_ sister when she's acting like a child."

Knowing how Yang would take the comment, Blake extended her arm to keep her from taking a step closer to Weiss — who still had her face buried in her studies, speaking nonchalantly as she flipped through the pages of her book that seemed far more interesting than the conversation they were trying to have with her. 

"She's our leader," Blake argued, trying to mediate the situation before things got out of control. 

Weiss could only laugh at the response. ‘She’s our leader.’ That was a good joke. Clearly, their headmaster had made some sort of mistake. That must've been it. There was no way they would’ve chosen a child they picked up from the streets over her. To this day, that story still sounded as ridiculous as the first time she’d heard it. It just made no sense.

"And does she act like one? Does she speak like one? Does she even have the slightest idea what a leader is supposed to be?"

"Weiss, that's enough." Blake took a glimpse at Yang, who already had her fists clenched and her head hung low. She had to say something, realizing that soon enough-

"You're one to talk!" Yang exclaimed in a sudden outburst, red-faced and heart pumping in her ears. Her shoulders rose up and down while her breathing grew ragged as she stared at Weiss’ back. 

Letting that out felt satisfying, to say the least. For weeks, she’d had to endure these squabbles with Weiss for the sake of keeping peace in their team — a team which _Ruby_ had to lead. It wasn’t like she had no faith in her sister, but people had to understand that she was still adjusting. It was normal for her to mess up at first. Yang couldn’t be prouder with how Ruby was doing what she could, despite being bumped up to two grades and being thrown into an entirely new environment. 

And now, this? Having to hear all of this coming from Weiss?

She had enough of this girl. To talk about her sister that way — to just go on and rant about all the things their leader did wrong, to expect nothing short of perfection from the girl who had a simple dream of beating up bad guys and devouring cookies at the end of the day — it got to Yang.

"You keep throwing yourself into work and pushing everyone away from you like that's gonna help anyone, like that's gonna solve your problems. Guess what, Ice Queen, _it doesn't._ "

Weiss’ eyes widened at the sudden remarks, to which Yang grinned.

That finally got her attention.

Slamming her pen down, Weiss stood up to face Yang, her chair screeching as it scratched the floor. "Don't call me that!"

"But that's what you are!" Yang jabbed a finger on her shoulder. "Why do you think everyone's having such a hard time reaching out to you?"

The moment the words left her mouth, both girls got silent. 

The look on Weiss’ face almost made Yang regret what she’d said. Just a second ago she was glaring up at Yang. Now… she looked hurt. Her expression was a mixture of shock and anger, like Weiss couldn’t believe her ears. That, or she couldn’t say anything back because she knew Yang’s words were actually spot-on. 

Eventually, Weiss settled on pursing her lips.

"Oh, please, you know nothing about me," she mumbled, lowering her gaze, unable to meet Yang’s eyes.

Raising both hands, Yang proceeded to gesture around. "That's my point! You don't let anyone in. You put up all these walls that no one ever wants to climb." She exhaled, the anger subsiding as quickly as it started. "No one except Ruby."

Again, the room got quiet. Yang pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. Even after all the bickering, she couldn’t bring herself to fully lash out on Weiss. She knew better than to do that to one of her teammates. Whether they liked it or not, they were going to be stuck together for four more years. Although obligation wasn’t the reason why she still wanted to somehow make friends with Weiss and fix whatever issues they had; she knew that much. And she knew Ruby was aware of it, too. In fact, it had been Ruby to be the first one to spot it. This hope — hope that one day, they could make a pretty good team, as Ruby had said so herself. 

Who was Yang to stomp on her dreams like that? If that’s what Ruby wanted, then she would support her every step of the way, even with bumps on the road like this. That’s what sisters were for. 

Still, she’d meant all the things she blurted out to Weiss tonight. She might’ve been blunt, but if even a small fraction of her words got through to that thick skull of hers, then this might pay off in the end. 

Noticing how the two have finally let off some steam, and thus cooled down, Blake took this as a sign to re-enter the conversation. Carefully, she walked towards them.

"This entire day, she's been worried about her partner." She placed each hand on their shoulders, earning herself a small, appreciative smile from Yang along with an uncertain glance from Weiss. "She cares about you."

The pair then turned to Weiss, almost as if prodding her to speak up.

As soon as she noticed that all eyes were on her, she gave up and exhaled, covering her face. Just what did she sign up for when she entered Beacon…? She surely hadn’t expected anything like this at all. _Nothing_ since the first day had been anything she was prepared for. And all of it came as a shock to her. Since then, she’d become a combination of frustration, confusion and all of the above. A lot of things haven’t been making sense as soon as she left Atlas, when she arrived at Beacon…

When she met Ruby.

Why had she gotten so worked up when Yang used that nickname? Why had she hardly been able to come up with a reply when Yang scolded her? 

Why…

Why did everyone have a hard time reaching out to her?

Her first instinct when Yang had hurled that fastball… it was denial, she could admit that. She didn’t believe — no, she didn’t _want_ to believe that it was true. But looking at her situation, now with a clear head, Yang was right, painfully so. As much as she hated to admit it, everything that got thrown at her face was true. 

Weiss felt a lump in her throat. 

It was true...

"Weiss?"

Still hiding behind her hands, perhaps in attempts to save her from further embarrassment, she let out a muffled, "...m so..."

Blake and Yang gave each other curious looks. When Yang raised her eyebrow, her partner gave a shrug in response. This wasn’t the reaction either of them had expected, but hopefully tonight was a step in the right direction.

"What was that?" Leaning closer, Yang placed a hand around her ear. "I thought I heard something."

Taking her hands away from her face, she begrudgingly blurted out, "I'm sorry, Yang and Blake." She then looked at both of them, in a way that's similar to a kid searching for their parents’ approval. ‘Did I do good?’ her eyes said.

"Eh, still could use some improvements."

Blake lightly elbowed Yang for the comment, but was actually glad that they had finally found a way to settle things. "I'll accept your apology, but I think you still owe one more apology to a certain someone."

"I know," Weiss sighed out. "I think I know where she went."

"Then go get her," Yang said as she started shoving her out through the door.

"Hey, what are you-"

Before Weiss could protest, she had already found herself back in the hallway. Had she always been that light or was Yang just that strong? Either way, her thoughts were interrupted by Yang’s quick babbling, gradually closing the door until she got every word out.

"I'm guessing you two didn't have dinner, so Blake and I will figure something out while you look for Ruby. See ya!"

And with that, Yang shut the door completely, leaving a very confused Weiss. Just what had she gotten herself into? Honestly, this team has been showing her different sides of herself that even she hadn't known about. They constantly clash, sure, but that was to be expected. She just... didn't know arguments could be resolved like that.

She blinked several times.

 _Figure something out, she said_. Since when were those two so close?

Weiss shook her head. "Now to look for that dolt."

* * *

Ever so kindly, the moon provided a soft glow to light Beacon Academy's grounds. Along with the gentle brush of wind against the leaves, came a serene atmosphere that would lull most people to sleep. Yet there was one rose who found herself unable to feel at ease on this calm evening. 

Pressing the ‘record’ button on her scroll, Ruby slumped down against a bench. "Log number five. Soooo yeah. I made Weiss mad again. I know, I know. We got on the wrong foot... a bit too literally, y’know, with all the Dust and explosions." She chuckled, remembering how it all started right there, in front of where she sat.

"And there was also that one time we caused a fire in the Emerald Forest," she continued, her chuckle dying down once she realized why Weiss may not have been so fond of her. "I know I said I'd make things up to her, but look at how that's going."

She recalled all the times they’d fought in such a short amount of time. It had hardly been a month since she got to enter one of the finest schools there was, without so much as a hassle at that. Not only that, she’d become leader as well. But with her performance so far, she couldn’t believe anything about her was special. Thinking about it now, perhaps Professor Ozpin had been wrong about her. There was someone in their team much more talented and smarter than her — someone much more fit to become leader. 

"Maybe..." Ruby hugged her legs tight and rested her head on her knees. "Maybe she was right. I _am_ a bad leader."

"You're not, though."

Almost tumbling over from the unexpected response, Ruby squeaked as her heart nearly jumped out of her chest. "Weiss!"

In front of her, stood her partner. Ruby couldn’t pinpoint it right then, but something was off about her. She didn’t seem to be mad anymore. Or maybe… maybe she was here to tell Ruby that she didn’t wanna be partners anymore! Did she really mess up big time? Were there no do-overs? 

"May I?" Weiss gestured towards the seat.

The question hardly registered in her brain as Ruby caught herself staring in confusion, her head still hanging from the clouds. "Oh... Oh! Yeah, sure." She wiped the seat clean and frantically patted the spot for Weiss to sit on.

Once they sat next to one another, Ruby felt a sudden urge to straighten her posture and cast glances at the girl beside her. This was surely unexpected... Just a few hours ago, the heiress had not wanted so much as to see a single strand of her hair. Maybe now they could finally work things out.

"I wanted to talk about earlier," Weiss started. She wasn’t the best at apologies; that was one thing she didn’t pride herself on, but in order to make amends with her leader, she needed to do this. The least she could do was try. She could do that, couldn’t she?

Noticing how Ruby was patiently waiting for her to continue, she let out a shaky breath. 

"I was so harsh on you. I didn't really mean any of the things I've told you before, and I'm really, really sorry for…” she paused, twiddling her thumbs and turning her attention away from Ruby’s gaze. “For hitting you."

With each word that left her mouth, Weiss felt her chest tighten. She couldn’t even look at Ruby when she said that last part. She'd only recently grasped how badly she'd hurt Ruby all those times. It had taken nearly a month along with a scolding from Yang, but she saw it now. She should be the one making things up to Ruby, not the other way around. Realizing that, she felt awful. And more than anything, she was disappointed in herself.

Why wouldn’t she be? The reality of the situation only dawned on her tonight. She’d hurt Ruby. What’s more is that she’d _hit_ her. Biting her lip, Weiss chided herself. As a child that had been the one thing she’d sworn to never ever do. No matter how furious she was at someone, no matter the situation — she would never raise her hand at them. She didn’t want to grow up like that. She detested people who resorted to such things… people like her father. 

The more she mulled over that thought, the sweatier her palms grew. Her mouth turned dry and panic grew in her chest. There was no way. She couldn’t - she wouldn’t… she’d never turn out like him, no. Weiss hated the thought of that more than anything. It left a bitter taste in her mouth whenever the idea crossed her mind.

No, no, no. She wasn’t like him. Not at all. They were different. Weiss was nothing like Jacques Schnee. But the more she thought about her actions towards Ruby — actions that resembled those of her father’s — the faster her anxieties grew, and the more she was proven wrong. No… no... _no._

There was no way. 

While all of that was going through Weiss' head, Ruby noticed the mixture of worries from the way Weiss hadn’t spoken and the way her eyes wandered around nervously. She acted quickly — putting on an award-winning smile, she lightly bumped Weiss’ shoulder to catch her attention.

"Pfft, that? It was nothing." She showed her hand for Weiss to inspect. "See, I'm good!"

Weiss' eyes widened when she saw, not a frown, but a smile upon the girl's lips. 

She… wasn’t mad? 

That ray of hope alone was enough to draw her focus away from her worries at that moment. Now though, she was confused. Ruby had every right to be mad at her, so why was she acting like they were fine? If anything, Weiss had expected Ruby to hold a grudge and be upset with her. That would’ve been a more sensible reaction, so… why?

"And I know you didn't mean all the things you said," Ruby quipped, leisurely swinging her legs under the bench. "Well, it sure sounded like you meant _some_ of them, but it’s fine. I mean, I said some pretty bad stuff to you back at the forest, didn't I?" 

Placing a finger on her lips, Weiss thought for a while. For a moment, she racked her brain for one of her favorite Ruby lines. Once she’d retrieved a particular line she decided would be amusing to bring back and resurface in their memories, she nodded to herself.

"Now that I remember, you did say..." She coughed, before imitating her version of Ruby's voice. _"’You're a big stupid jerk and I hate you!’"_ Chuckling, she turned to see that Ruby had a look filled with disbelief, almost like she herself didn't recall the incident — the first time they'd fought together as partners. 

"Wha - no waaay!" 

"Yup." Weiss tapped her temple and struck a pose, almost as if she was proud of herself. "Unlike you, I have outstanding memory."

At this moment, she seemed at ease, so much so that she was comfortable enough to smile and poke fun at Ruby like this. It was a far cry from the Weiss she saw just a few minutes ago. Earlier, it appeared like she was about to cry, and Ruby didn’t want that! She’d already accepted her apology, so there was no need to feel guilty about it anymore. 

_Mission success_ , Ruby thought proudly to herself. This was good! No, no, this was more than good. This was awesome! It wasn’t often Weiss got to show this side of her to others, as far as Ruby knew anyway, so to see her like this… to see those sparkling blue eyes and to hear that adorable laugh…

Ruby felt special. 

She’d almost forgotten that this was the girl she’d just fought with some hours ago. She liked to hope that there was more to Weiss than this icy exterior she puts on everyday, and judging by the way she acted right now, maybe she was right. Maybe one day she’d get to joke around with her on a daily basis, too! 

Ruby smiled to herself. That would be really nice…

“Yeah, yeah, Ice Queen,” she said jokingly. 

Weiss didn’t return her smile then. In fact, her smile dropped. Turning away from Ruby, she grew silent — the shine in her eyes leaving as a frown set on her lips. 

Now, Ruby wasn’t an expert at talking to others and all that, but she knew when she messed up. It was like telling a joke she thought was funny during the family dinner and no one laughing, or saying something in a group chat that made everyone else silent. Ruby shuddered. Both were situations she was familiar with. 

Immediately picking up on the change of moods, she carefully inched closer and asked, “Wait, did I say something wrong?”

There was no response from Weiss, not even a change in her expression. Her mouth opened and closed, then she let out a sigh. To Ruby, it looked like she was arguing with herself, like she wanted to ask something but she didn’t know how to phrase it, or if she should even ask in the first place. 

Then, in a voice so frail, Weiss spoke. “You don’t… you don’t really think I’m an Ice Queen, do you?”

Noticing how she had her hands clenched on her skirt as she gave the question, Ruby could guess what was going on in Weiss’ head. 

Whenever Ruby called her by that nickname, it was purely meant to tease the girl, never to hurt her. Now that she thought about it though, the nickname had traveled across the school. That’s how the students knew Weiss Schnee as. And because of that, some of them would rather stay away than give her a chance. Sure, she could come off as cold and arrogant… and stubborn. Not to mention bossy… but that wasn’t the point! 

Even with small, fleeting moments like these, when Weiss would lower her walls, Ruby saw it — she was hurting. No matter how much she’d scoff and roll her eyes at others, Ruby could catch glimpses of a fragile girl in front of her, a girl that was genuinely trying. How could she ignore that? How could _anyone_ ignore that, really?

She’d been called naïve. She’d been called silly. She’d been called countless other things for trying to befriend Weiss, but Ruby had never been one to give up. Hah! Just to think, a few seconds ago, she pegged Weiss as the stubborn one. That made the two of them now, didn’t it? Not that she minded. 

They were partners now, after all. She couldn’t just sit by and do nothing when Weiss was struggling. Nope! Nuh-uh. That was a big no-no for Ruby. From here on out, it was going to be the two of them working together — growing together. So to hold so much pain inside and deal with it all on your own? Ruby didn’t like the thought of that. She wouldn’t allow it. 

And so, with a serious look, she placed her hand on top of Weiss’ own, feeling her grip loosen on the fabric.

“Hey… look at me.”

Weiss lifted her gaze from the ground and hesitantly met Ruby’s. 

“Give me your other hand.” When it appeared like Weiss was having second thoughts of listening to her, Ruby softly added, “Please?”

Back then, Weiss didn’t know why, but she went along with it. Perhaps it was because she needed it — not only that, perhaps she might’ve even _wanted_ it — but she’d never admit that to herself, much less to Ruby. Even so, she obediently brought her other hand to hold Ruby’s. 

In that moment, a shiver made its way down from Ruby’s neck and made the hairs on her arms stand up. She knew she wanted to say something to Weiss. She _had_ planned on giving some words of encouragement to cheer her up. But for whatever reason, now that she held Weiss’ hands, feeling her soft skin against her own… it froze her. But not in a bad way of course. Apart from her mom and Yang, she’d never really held a girl’s hands before. She’d never known that it would feel this...

_Soft?_

Yeah, soft. There was no other way to describe it. Not right now, when she was still gawking over how small and totally adorable her partner’s hands were, like marshmallows! She began to wonder why everyone was so scared of Weiss in the first place. Looking at her teeny-tiny hands right now, one could assume she was harmless. But when Ruby glanced at Weiss, remembering how she actually was when she’s furious, she kinda understood why most people would be unwilling to approach her. Weiss knew how to make a mean face. It might’ve scared Ruby a bit the first few times upon encountering it, but that was then. 

Now though, looking down at the small hands before her, she couldn’t suppress a smile. 

_An angry marshmallow_ , Ruby happily mused to herself. _An angry but really, really…_ pretty _marshmallow._

Noticing her train of thought and how Weiss had been waiting for her to speak this entire time, she shook her head. Now wasn’t the time to get distracted! 

“So, uh,” she hesitantly started, lifting up Weiss’ hands to her face. “An Ice Queen wouldn’t have such warm, delicate hands like these, now would she?” 

It wasn’t meant to be a serious question, but from the looks of it, Weiss took it as such and pondered about it, biting her lip as she did so. Meanwhile, Ruby couldn’t help but smile because she just found the sight cute. This girl always took everything so seriously. It was almost like Ruby could see her calculating and going through spreadsheets in her head.

Then, coming to a conclusion, Weiss whispered,“ I suppose not…” 

Maybe her mind was playing tricks on her, but Ruby could’ve sworn Weiss was turning red as she spoke. Beaming up at her partner, she chuckled at the uncharacteristically shy response. 

“I’m glad we could agree on something!”

Offering a soft smile in response, Weiss looked down and gently rubbed her thumb against the back of Ruby’s hand. They were slightly bigger in comparison to hers, but they were just as soft. Normally, she would’ve been more hesitant with such forms of affection, but with this girl in front of her… it felt natural, like they’d done this all the time. Thinking about it, Weiss realized she wouldn’t mind holding hands like this again, actually. 

She glanced up at Ruby, her grin as wide as ever.

Yeah… that would be nice.

She opened her mouth to speak, but before her words could come out, a loud ringtone came from Ruby’s pocket. From the sudden interruption, both girls yelped and let go, rushing to opposite sides of the bench. 

Fumbling for her scroll in her pocket, Ruby repeatedly gave small whispers of ‘I’m sorry!’ and offered an apologetic look. It wasn’t like it was her fault that her scroll started blasting a rather loud tune, but she felt the need to apologize. Weiss looked like she’d been a deer caught in headlights, or to be more precise, like she’d been caught doing a crime. 

In a way, maybe Weiss had been doing just that with the way her heart rate was reaching to higher levels she’d never experienced before. She clenched her chest tightly. What was she thinking, holding hands with Ruby in public? She shot a glance at Ruby as she answered her scroll.

“Yang, what’s up? – Dinner?” Her eyes lit up. “COOKIES FOR DINNER? Wait, stolen?” There was a brief pause, then a sigh of relief. “Oh, okay. That’s good then.”

Weiss wondered where the conversation was going, then... a _squeal_. 

Raising her free arm in the air, Ruby spun around, rose petals fluttering beneath her as she did so. When she turned around, still talking to Yang with her scroll tucked on her shoulder, she gave Weiss two thumbs up and an overly excited grin. “Tell Nora I owe her my life!” 

Ah...

Dinner, cookies, and Nora. That wasn’t a combination Weiss was particularly fond of. Not now, not ever. She shuddered at the thought of having cookies of all things for dinner. Honestly, that’s when she had her broccoli salad! But then again, what did she expect from Nora and Yang?

“I’ll be there in a minute!” Ruby’s voice drew her away from her thoughts. Hanging up, she held Weiss’ hand once more as she jogged in place, practically beaming from the excitement. “C’mon, Weiss! Let’s grab some dinner!”

She scrunched her face. “But… cookies?” 

Instead of giving up — not that Ruby ever had plans to, especially for this particular once-in-a-lifetime opportunity — she brought on the secret weapon. Fluttering her eyelashes and using the most adorable Ruby-voice she had, she pleaded. “But it’ll be this one time, also I’m staaaarved.” To emphasize her point, she made a show of dropping to her knees and clutching her stomach, eventually sneaking a peak at Weiss to see if she was buying it.

A sigh escaped from Weiss’ lips. That hadn’t been necessary, because either way, she didn’t have much of a choice now, did she? 

“As long as you promise to drink water and brush your — hey!” 

In the middle of her lecture, Ruby had managed to wrap her arms around Weiss, squeezing her in a hug, nearly carrying her off of the ground. While doing so, she squealed, “Thank you, thank you, thank youuuuu!” 

Weiss’ hand hovered over Ruby, before she warily returned the hug, giving her awkward pats. It wasn’t often she received hugs like these. No, actually, this was the first time she’d ever gotten a hug like this. Much to her surprise, she didn’t have the urge to pull away so soon. If Ruby had done this in front of other people, maybe she would’ve gotten that urge, but if it was just the two of them… she didn’t mind. In fact, she was starting to consider welcoming it more often. 

She felt a smile tug on her lips. Not a moment later, she let loose of her doubts and hugged back fully and with as much sincerity as Ruby. Being held like this was bliss. It caused butterflies in her chest to go aflutter. As rare as it may be, she felt understood. She felt overflowing compassion. And more than anything… 

_Weiss Schnee felt loved._

Right now, she just wanted Ruby to feel that, too. It was the least she deserved for everything she’d done for Weiss.

Taking a step back, Ruby was the one to pull away from the hug. Playfully imitating one of Weiss’ curtsies, she then offered her hand. “Shall we?”

Stifling her laugh, Weiss proceeded to show her partner a much more proper way of performing the greeting, before taking her hand.

“Don’t get so used to this.”

On the way back, she wasn’t entirely sure, but she thought she’d heard Ruby happily humming to herself, seemingly back into her own world. On any other day, she might’ve scolded Ruby for getting easily distracted, because immediately after that, she’d tripped on a rock. But perhaps she could make an exception tonight, she thought to herself while smiling at her dolt. 

Maybe she was the Ice Queen, maybe she wasn’t. 

Either way, she sure had a soft spot for this little rose. 


End file.
